Annual pelvic exam questioned

WASHINGTON (AP) — No more dreaded pelvic exam? New guidelines say most healthy women can skip the yearly ritual.

Routine pelvic exams don’t benefit women who have no symptoms of disease and who aren’t pregnant, and they can cause harm, the American College of Physicians said as it recommended that doctors quit using them as a screening tool.

It’s part of a growing movement to evaluate whether many longtime medical practices are done more out of habit than necessity, and the guideline is sure to be controversial.

Scientific evidence “just doesn’t support the benefit of having a pelvic exam every year,” said guideline coauthor Dr. Linda Humphrey of the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Oregon Health & Science University.

“There will be women who are relieved, and there are women who really want to go in and talk with their doctor about it and will choose to continue this,” she added.

The recommendations aren’t binding to doctors. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists still recommends yearly pelvic exams, even as it acknowledges a lack of evidence supporting, or refuting, them.